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When you abash someone, you make her feel uncomfortable, ashamed, embarrassed, or inferior.

Angst is a strong feeling of anxiety, worry, and unhappiness especially about a current or future situation.

Apathy is the lack of interest or unenthusiastic involvement in an activity when one makes no effort to change or improve it at all.

If you deal with a difficult situation with aplomb, you deal with it in a confident and skillful way.

When you have ardor for something or someone, you have an intense feeling of love, excitement, and admiration for it or for that person.

If you describe someone as having a bilious personality, you mean that she is highly irritable and bad tempered.

You use blithe to indicate that someone does something casually or in a carefree fashion without much concern for the end result.

If someone is described as having a bristling personality, it means that he is either easily offended or is annoyed and/or angry.

A cavalier person does not seem to care about rules, principles, or other people’s feelings, even if the situation is serious.

A choleric person becomes angry very easily.

Complacent persons are too confident and relaxed because they think that they can deal with a situation easily, although this may not be true.

When someone shows composure, she remains calm, cool, and collected in even trying circumstances.

If you feel compunction about doing something, you feel that you should not do it because it is bad or wrong.

If someone is described as crotchety, he tends to be older, hard to please, and very touchy or irritable about even the smallest perceived inconveniences.

A curmudgeon is someone who complains a lot and is highly irritable, difficult, and grumpy.

If something daunts you, it makes you worried about dealing with it because you think it will be very difficult or dangerous.

If something discomfits you it makes you feel embarrassed, confused, uncomfortable, or frustrated.

If something disconcerts you it makes you feel anxious, worried, or confused.

Someone does something in a disinterested way when he or she has no personal involvement or attachment to the action.

When one feels disquiet about a situation, one feels very worried or nervous.

If you are distraught about a situation you are very upset or worried about it.

When you are in a dither you are in a state of nervous agitation or indecision.

If you describe someone as ebullient, you mean that she is full of enthusiasm, very happy, and extremely excited about something.

If you describe someone as effervescent you think that she is lively, very happy, and enthusiastic.

If you show equanimity you demonstrate a calm mental state, without getting upset or annoyed, when you deal with a difficult situation.

If you describe what someone said as glib, you disapprove of it because she made something sound simple, easy, and problem-free when it really wasn’t at all.

The gravity of a situation or event is its seriousness or importance.

When you are impassioned about a cause or idea you are very passionate or highly emotionally charged about it.

If someone is impassive it means that she is not showing any emotion.

If someone is imperturbable she is always calm and not easily upset or disturbed by any situation, even dangerous ones.

If you are indifferent about something you are uninterested or neutral about it, not caring either in a positive or negative way.

An inflammable substance or person’s temper is easily set on fire.

Insouciance is a lack of concern or worry for something that should be shown more careful attention or consideration.

If you do something in a lackadaisical way you do it carelessly and without putting much effort into it, thereby showing that you are not really interested in what you’re doing.

A languid person is very slow, relaxed, and shows little energy or interest in doing anything.

If you are lethargic you are tired, lack energy, and are unwilling to exert effort.

When you are listless you lack energy and interest, and are unwilling to exert any effort.

A misgiving is a doubt or uncertainty that you have about something, usually something that you are about to do.

If you are oblivious to something that is happening you do not notice it.

Someone who is phlegmatic stays calm and unemotional even in dangerous or exciting situations.

When you are piqued by something, either your curiosity is aroused by it, or you feel resentment or anger towards it.

A reverie is a state of having pleasant dreamlike thoughts that make you forget what you are doing and what is happening around you.

If you are squeamish, you are easily nauseated or shocked by things that are tolerated by most people, or are extremely oversensitive.

If you are stolid you have or show little emotion about anything at all.

If you are temperamental you tend to become easily upset, and experience unpredictable mood swings.

Trenchant comments or criticisms are expressed forcefully, directly, and clearly, although they might be hurtful to the receiver.

If something unnerves you it makes you upset or nervous, or makes you lose your courage because it frightens you.

Something that is vibrant is lively and full of energy in a way that is exciting and attractive.

If someone is described as vivacious, you mean that she is lively and has a happy lighthearted manner.

Someone who is zealous spends a lot of time, energy, and effort to support something because he believes in it very strongly, especially political or religious ideas.

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Adj.

nonchalant

NON-shuh-lahnt

Context

Even though Ted had a major exam the next day, he acted nonchalant or totally unworried as he lazily sunned himself on the beach. Tara asked him if he should be studying, but the unconcerned Ted replied nonchalantly, “I have all night after we get back. It will be easy!” Ted’s nonchalant, casual attitude made the trip to the shore fun, but most definitely did not help his poor final grade in organic chemistry.

Memory Hook

AntChalet When Tricia arrived at her beautiful chalet in the Alps, she found that it had been overrun by ants; despite the fact that her chalet was now an antchalet, she remained nonchalant as she called the exterminator.

Examples

If the Olympic women’s soccer team is any indication, the best way to raise a champion — or, for that matter, an active, healthy, sports-loving child — is to be as nonchalant as possible.
—Newsweek

Four bald eagles, unmistakable with their white heads and tails, perch with a nonchalant fierceness, eyeballing the bird-watchers stopped along the gravel road here to eyeball back at these iconic national symbols.
—The Christian Science Monitor

Yuri’s cousin Eriks, who plays in a Latvian band called 'Volcano of Love' and can flick his cigarette butt to the ground in a dazzling arc of ember, has all the nonchalant East-Euro chic that Yuri seems to lack.
—The Christian Science Monitor

Sasha was correcting the wheel and glaring at me with fire shooting out of his eyes, while the rest of the people in the car were trying their best to look nonchalant, involuntarily cast into an overly melodramatic situation.
—Men's Health

Word Ingredients

A nonchalant person is “not heated” by thorny or difficult situations, but rather remains “cool” under pressure.

Word Theater

Moonlighting He tries to get her to act in a nonchalant fashion.

The panel shows a small video clip of either the word in actual use or a scene that represents the meaning of a word. This not only breaks up the monotony of studying words but also provides another avenue to strengthen word meaning. Enjoy!